1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plug-in connector. The invention also relates to a multiple plug-in connector which, in interaction with a mating plug-in connector, is in particular intended for the transmission of radio frequency signals between two circuit boards.
2. Description of Related Art
Plug-in connectors or multiple plug-in connectors should ensure the most loss-free possible transmission of radio frequency signals, including within a defined tolerance range in terms of parallelism as well as ensuring the distance between the two circuit boards. The plug-in connectors should also be economical to manufacture and should generally be sufficiently robust for integration in an assembly line.
It is known for a single connection (i.e., one forming a single radio frequency signal path) between two circuit boards to be established by means of two coaxial plug-in connectors firmly connected with the circuit boards as well as an adapter connecting the two coaxial plug-in connectors, the so-called “bullet”. This adapter makes possible an equalization of axial and radial tolerances, as well as the equalization of tolerances of parallelism. Typical coaxial plug-in connectors used for this purpose are SMP, Mini-SMP, or FMC. If a plurality of radio frequency paths between two circuit boards is provided, a plurality of such single plugged connections must be used, which represents, in particular, a significant amount of complexity in assembly.
The complexity of assembly involved in connecting two circuit boards can be reduced significantly in comparison with the use of single plug-in connectors by means of multiple plug-in connectors which integrate a plurality of contact elements in a defined arrangement within a housing. However, the integration of a tolerance equalizing functionality in the multiple plug-in connector represents a challenge.
A plugged connection with two multiple plug-in connectors for the electrical connection of two circuit boards is known from DE 20 2012 008 969 U1. The multiple plug-in connectors are thereby designed as right-angled plug-in connectors, so that the plugging direction in which the two multiple plug-in connectors are plugged together is aligned parallel to the circuit boards. All of the contact elements are designed as stamped and bent sheet metal components. The individual inner conductors of one plug-in connector are thereby designed as flat contact lugs which are contacted on both sides by spring contact tabs of the corresponding inner conductors of the other plug-in connector, which are in a tong-like arrangement. In both plug-in connectors, the outer conductors surrounding the respective inner conductors are cage-formed in design, whereby the outer conductors of one of the plug-in connectors are pushed into the outer conductors of the other plug-in connector, resulting in a large surface-area contact on three sides of each outer conductor. In the multiple plug-in connectors known from DE 20 2012 008 969 U1 a tolerance-equalizing functionality is achieved through an elastic deformability and relative displaceability of the flat-surface contact elements.